Recruiting the Buggy Pirates

Luffy's power-packed fist slammed into Moya.

However, a bizarre thing happened; Luffy's fist felt as if it had struck a slick, slippery object.

With a swish, it slid right past Moya's body and hammered into the wall behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust, yet failing to cause Moya the slightest bit of harm.

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami all felt a sense of disbelief.

But they recovered quickly.

After all, Moya was a captain; it wasn't strange for him to have some special ability. Meanwhile, the crew of the Moya Adventure Group looked on as if this were only natural, shouting and cheering for Moya with all their might.

Moya traded blows with Luffy continuously, allowing his body and techniques to become increasingly coordinated.

Moya's strength, physique, combat awareness, and techniques were far inferior to Luffy's, so he could only rely on the Slip-Slip Fruit's ability to nullify most of Luffy's physical attacks to hold his own.

After half an hour of fighting, neither side could do anything to the other, as both of their Devil Fruit abilities possessed the trait of immunity to physical blunt force.

However, Moya's stamina was nearly exhausted, while Luffy remained full of energy.

It's time to end this.

Moya decided that although he couldn't beat Luffy head-on, he had many ways to deal with him: seawater, sharp weapons, or hypnosis.

Slip-Slip Fruit: Glazed Ground.

Moya pressed one hand to the ground and shouted internally. Moya never called out his techniques aloud; otherwise, he would look as dim-witted as Luffy.

Immediately, the ground within a radius of several dozen meters, centered on Moya, underwent a transformation.

The ground became incredibly smooth, as if it were reflective.

Bang! Luffy, who was just about to accelerate, suddenly fell flat on his face.

Seizing the opportunity, Moya grabbed a bucket from one of his underlings, slid rapidly to Luffy's side, and dumped a bucket of seawater over him.

Luffy instantly felt his strength draining away; his tongue lolled out, and his entire body went limp.

At this moment, Moya, wearing a newly purchased waterproof glove, slowly wrapped a cloth around it and dipped it into the wooden bucket filled with seawater. When he pulled his hand out, the cloth on the glove was still dripping with seawater.

Seawater-soaked gauntlet, complete.

Moya flashed a smile of a villain whose scheme had succeeded. Let's see if your Gomu Gomu no Mi can still ignore blunt force now.

"Oi, you brat! Since you're so thick-skinned and ignore blunt force, taste my Face-Disfiguring Fist!"

Moya landed a punch for every "little Luffy," three left hooks, three right hooks, a few kicks to the rear, and finally, a Rozan Sho Ryu Ha to finish the job.

Zoro frowned as he looked at Luffy's swollen, pig-like face, feeling extreme contempt for Moya's despicable act of splashing water, and quickly ran to Luffy's side to protect him.

But the moment Zoro stepped into the range of Moya's Glazed Ground, his feet slipped, and he was startled.

He reacted instantly, performing a backflip, drawing his sword, and stabbing it into the ground—all in one fluid motion!

However, with a thud, the tip of the sword slid and missed its mark; the stab failed! Zoro fell hard. It seemed that, being injured, Zoro's performance was a bit off.

"Hahaha!"

Nami and the others burst into laughter. Zoro's face turned as red as a monkey's. He tried to crawl up, but he kept slipping and couldn't get back on his feet.

Moya deactivated the Glazed Ground, walked over to Zoro, extended a hand to pull him up, and extended an invitation.

"Zoro, come be my partner. Do you know? I specifically went to Marine Branch 153 to save you, but I didn't expect you to have been rescued by someone else."

Zoro didn't answer. Although he was a bit surprised by Moya's rescue attempt, he was a man who valued his word. Since he had agreed to be Luffy's crewmate, he had no intention of going back on it.

"Rika is on my ship; she misses you! And I know your dream, and I also know the recent possible location of the world's greatest swordsman, Hawkeye, Dracule Mihawk!"

Moya continued to "appeal to emotion and reason," using every means necessary—schemes, open plots, temptations, and solicitation.

At this, Zoro's heart sank. Rika had shown him the "kindness of a meal," and challenging Hawkeye was his lifelong dream. He fell into a state of chaotic thought.

Moya sighed inwardly. Even this doesn't move him? I underestimated Zoro's loyalty. He wanted to continue the seduction.

Just then, a ripple that made Moya's heart palpitate caused his pulse to skip a beat.

It felt as if he were being watched by a high-level predator like a dragon. Was it Dragon?

Was this a warning to him?

Moya was inwardly shocked.

Thinking of the relationship between the Revolutionary Army and Koushiro, Moya realized that it was highly likely Zoro was a crewmate pre-selected for Luffy by Dragon and Koushiro, or perhaps it really was just coincidence and fate?

At this, Moya didn't dare to make another move.

Moya fell silent for a moment. Ignoring the silent Zoro and the unconscious Luffy, Moya began to order the absorption of the Buggy Pirates.

"Nami, please carefully collect every valuable item from the Buggy Pirates!"

Moya commanded Nami with a straight face.

Nami's mouth stretched into a wide grin; "ordered to loot for wealth" was likely her favorite command of all.

"Yes, Captain!" they immediately turned and ran off to hunt for treasure.

"Bring everyone from the Buggy Pirates to the front!" Moya commanded his crew.

He looked at the pirates bound into bundles: Captain Buggy, the executive Beast Tamer Mohji, the lion Richie, the acrobat Cabaji, and a crowd of underlings.

"Following the strong is human instinct. Follow me! From now on, you are all my crew members. Otherwise, go kiss the fish and Sea Kings in the ocean right now!"

Moya looked at this group of pirates and said indifferently.

The pirates subconsciously looked toward their captain, Buggy.

"Baka! Even if the captain is dead, I, Buggy, would rather die and jump into the sea than submit to anyone!"

Buggy turned his face away, looking tough.

Moya couldn't be bothered to persuade him further and walked straight toward Buggy. In truth, Moya had been coveting the memories Buggy held from his time on the One Piece ship; the previous persuasion was just a gesture aimed at the ordinary members.

Ignoring Buggy's struggles, he took the man's head in his hands, brought him back to the cabin, closed the door, and knocked him unconscious.

'Slip-Slip Fruit: Memory Sliding Technique'

Moya began to browse through Buggy's memories, watching fragments of Buggy's greed for treasure.

Moya couldn't help but smile. As a crew member on the One Piece ship, he was actually so unambitious, greedy, and lazy.

A figure in green robes stood above the clouds, silently watching the little fellow below, his expressionless face furrowing in a frown.

Suddenly, Moya's expression changed. This was... this was a memory fragment of Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban teaching Shanks and Buggy how to cultivate Haki!

Shock! Buggy had actually awakened Haki, and he had awakened both colors of Haki.

It was just that after staying in the East Blue for too long, his spirit had been lost, his physical fitness had declined, and due to a lack of training, his Haki had actually regressed.

Thinking about this situation, it actually seemed somewhat reasonable.

Moria was a classic example. After being defeated by Kaido, his obsession with his crew led him to dedicate himself to the development of the Kage Kage no Mi to resurrect them, neglecting his Haki training, which caused his Haki to regress to almost zero over a dozen years.

Buggy was in the same situation. This could explain why certain big shots who had ventured through the New World ended up without Haki.

Damnable Buggy! Possessing such excellent resources, he hadn't listened carefully to the advanced training methods for Conqueror's, Armament, and Observation Haki simply because he was afraid of hardship. He really wanted to slap this old bastard Buggy to death!

Moya felt a bit frantic and wanted to hit someone.

But there was nothing he could do about it.